Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Prospect Joe Wieland To Start for Dodgers on Wednesday

One of the pieces received from the Padres in the Matt Kemp trade over the winter will make his first start for the Dodgers tomorrow. Joe Wieland, a right-handed starter, is already in Milwaukee in preparation for his upcoming start.

Known as a pitcher with fantastic control, he throws from a three
quarters angle and an easily repeatable delivery. Wieland has a two
seam and four seam fastball, a
curveball and a changeup. His heater is clocked in the low 90's.

Weiland made his Major League debut in 2012 against the Dodgers on April
14th. Unfortunately for him, he got hit hard. Ironically, the man he
was traded for, Matt Kemp, hit two home runs off him. Andre Either hit
one, as well. Over five innings pitched he gave up six earned runs on
six hits.

Then, after his fifth start that season he experienced arm problems that
soon lead to Tommy John surgery, and it's been a hard road ever since.
After missing the entire 2013 season, Wieland had arthroscopic surgery
on his pitching elbow in early 2014, and finally made a return to the
mound in San Diego later that year.

So far, Wieland has made four starts for Oklahoma City this season, and has done well. He is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA, 22 strike outs and only two walks in 20 innings pitched. His pinpoint control has obviously not disappeared, and now he's striking out batters at a rate greater than at any other time in his career. In his last start against Iowa City he gave up three runs over five innings, striking out five, walking none and yielded two triples.

In celebration of Wieland's arrival to the Dodgers I made the above fantasy card
for him. I used a photograph taken by Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015 and the 1968 Topps Baseball card
design.

Wieland, 25, will make his Dodger debut this evening, taking the hill tonight for a start against the Milwaukee Brewers. Wieland made four starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, going 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA (8 ER/20.0 IP) and has struck out 22 batters with just two walks.

The Nevada native is 1-4 with a 5.31 ERA in nine Major League games (seven starts), all with the Padres in 2012 and 2014. Wieland was acquired from San Diego on Dec. 18, 2014, along with catcher Yasmani Grandal and right-handed pitcher Zach Eflin, in exchange for outfielder Matt Kemp and catcher Tim Federowicz.

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